British youth Isaac Lewis finished his fundraising journey for quake-hit Sichuan Province on Sunday.

He started the 386 km walking journey from his hometown in Northern Wales on the 7th June and finished it at the Chinese Embassy to Britain in London. He planned to raise 3,000.00 pounds and now has collected 2,500 pounds.

In all Lewis' journey, he walked only by foot - no buses, trains or cars. He wrote on his website: "In solidarity with the five million made homeless by the quake, I plan to sleep outdoors wherever possible."

The 19-year-old boy lived in the city of Deyang, very near to the epicenter, for five months, from September 2007 to February 2008.

He wrote: "I got to know it (Deyang) well: I worked there, made friends there, had favorite restaurants there. I often visited the nearby bustling metropolis of Chengdu with friends for the weekend - a great place to meet people, go out, have good times... Deyang and Chengdu are beautiful places and I've had some of the best times of my life in those two cites and elsewhere in the stunning Sichuan province. I hope to one day live in Chengdu."

"So When I heard that this had happened to the two places I love so much, I was shocked," he said, adding that "I really wanted to do something big to help out, to draw attention to what's happening and hopefully inspire others to donate."

The money raised will go to the China Children and Teenager's Fund, which is a China-based charity with UK connections that helps disabled and disadvantaged children in China, according to his website.

The 8.0-magnitude quake, the most deadly in decades in China, striking Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province, at 14:28 PM on May 12, has killed over 69,197 and affected many parts of the country. The number of missing reached 18,222. The number of injured stood at 374,176.

(Xinhua News Agency July 29, 2008)